Back to the racing - good to see 1) this stage that could have been a sleeper, long successful break and the GC guys spending hours studying each other's jerseys being real racing and 2) getting to watch Contador at his best.

Anyone see good footage of his first crash? Curious to know if he was in the drops or not. (Caution - old fart here) I was taught in no uncertain words that in any dangerous situation, I was to ride the drops, always; that the tops/hoods were fine IF I knew the path ahead was clear and that I wasn't going to have to take drastic action. Now this was back in the day where if I was on the hoods and I hit that rock I couldn't see because of the rider ahead, well, bikes in those days had that little safety net; the cursed brake housing that we all jammed our thumb crotch into hard more than once.

Now, here - descent from the day's biggest climb. Hanging with the big boys on a big move. A grand tour. Last hour of racing, Everyone is tired. Isn't this drop time? Where you have that wonderful, secure handhold with that big hook your hand cannot slip over.

Now if TJ was in the drops, my apologies. (Though we were also taught that our grip must be firm. Wrists and forearms relaxed to take bumps and elbows from other riders, but grip solid. I remember Chris Carmicheal espousing a relaxed grip to reduce fatigue, then hearing that from lots of other people. Every time I heard that I thought - and still do - the consequences of one crash can easily offset the fatigue factor reduced by that loose grip.

Contador at least showed today that it is possible to isolate Froome so perhaps there's still some hope for this Vuelta.

Interesting how every single GC contender and would-be contender except Froome has had a bad day one way or other and real hard stages have yet to come. Must be signs of a long season. So who knows what can happen.